Kim Dotcom Released on Bail

Everyone who has been arrested during the Megaupload raids last month in New Zealand have been released on bail. According to the NZHerald, courts have said that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is not a flight risk and has been granted bail.

Last week, Megaupload’s lead programmer Bram van der Kolk was released on bail and banned from using the Internet until his court case is resolved. We are assuming that Dotcom has been released under similar terms, although details aren’t known as of yet.

Dotcom and three of his associates are waiting to see if the United States can get its wish and have them extradited to the US to face the accusations of; conspiring to commit racketeering, conspiring to commit money laundering, copyright infringement, and aiding and abetting copyright infringement over the internet.

When Megaupload was shut down and four of its employees were arrested in New Zealand, the Department of Justice said:

This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime.

On January 20th, New Zealand authorities seized Dotcom’s $30M rented home along with 10 Mercedes Benz vehicles.